Hailing from Toronto, FemBots broke in 2000 receiving rave reviews all over the net. “Calling Out” will be the band’s fourth release, which has been described as “post-industrial folk,” but certainly owes a lot to modern indie rock. Many of the songs are solid rock tunes, and a few get close to experimentation. For example, “Lost At Sea” is sung through a voice modulator. This technique usually comes off as gimmicky and puts immediate distance between the band and the listener, but here, when combined with the crunchy blues jam at about 2 minutes and 10 seconds in, it seems to make sense. It gives the tune an organic quality—raw like bits of gravel under bicycle tires. In contrast, another water-themed tune, “Ship Breaking” is sad and slow. It sounds very much like the sequel to Elvis Costello’s lament, “Shipbuilding.” Both are wonderful, classic-rock ballads. “Good Days,” the single, is the most accessible song here; it’s an unsurprising rock ditty that really isn’t very much like the rest of the record. Kinda like using “Float On” as the single representing Modest Mouse.

WHERE IS BERKELEY PLACE?

Berkeley Place is also 6 blocks of Brooklyn real estate, emerging from Sackett St. and ending at Banana Hill, a small park that grows a foot each year from accumulated dog poop and dead rats. Though its denizens have gotten wealthier over the decades, Berkeley Place still houses folks of all backgrounds with interests in, well, everything.